'L'Elisir d'Amore,' 'Otello,' 'The Tempest,' 'La Clemenza De Tito' Open New Simulcast Season

The Metropolitan Opera in New York City has announced the lineup for its 2012-13 season of "The Met: Live in HD," the phenomenally popular series of live simulcasts of opera productions shown in high-definition in movie theaters worldwide.

The Met Live season, which is shown in more than 1,700 theaters in 54 countries, will have 12 live transmissions of seven new productions, two of which are Met premieres.

Locally, the simulcasts have been shown at Digiplex Bloomfield, Rave Buckland in Manchester, Rave West Springfield, Rave North Haven, Branford 12, Connecticut Post 14 in Milford, AMC Danbury, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts in Fairfield, the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook and the Warner Theatre in Torrington. More theaters may jump on the bandwagon, so keep posted about updates as the season draws nearer.

Here's the lineup. All live simulcasts are on Saturdays. All are at 12:55 p.m. unless otherwise noted. "Encore" (rerun) broadcasts may be added at later dates.

The season begins Oct. 13 with a new production of Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera "L'Elisir d'Amore," conducted by Maurizio Benini, produced by Bartlett Sher and starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien and Ambrogio Maestri.

The next show is Giuseppe Verdi's "Otello," based on Shakespeare's tragedy, on Oct. 27. It is conducted by Semyon Bychkov, produced by Elijah Moshinsky and stars Renée Fleming, Johan Botha, Michael Fabiano and Falk Struckmann.

Another Shakespeare adaptation, Thomas Adès' "The Tempest,"conducted by Adès himself, follows on Nov. 10. The production, a Met premiere, will be produced by Robert Lepage and star Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, Alek Shrader, Alan Oke, William Burden, Toby Spence and Simon Keenlyside.

On Dec. 8, the title is "Un Ballo in Maschera," a drama of jealousy and vengeance by Giuseppe Verdi, conducted by Fabio Luisi, produced by David Alden and starring Karita Mattila, Kathleen Kim, Stephanie Blythe, Marcelo Álvarez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

Another Verdi classic follows with "Aida" on Dec. 15. The story of an enslaved Ethiopian princess is conducted by Fabio Luisi, produced by Sonja Frisell and stars Liudmyla Monastyrska, Olga Borodina, Roberto Alagna, George Gagnidze, Štefan Kocán and Miklós Sebestyén.

The second opera in Gaetano Donizetti's trilogy about Tudor history, "Maria Stuarda," will be Jan. 19, 2013. The Met premiere will be conducted by Maurizio Benini, produced by David McVicar and star Joyce DiDonato, Elza van den Heever, Francesco Meli, Joshua Hopkins and Matthew Rose.

The season's third Verdi offering is "Rigoletto," which producer Michael Mayer transports from 16th-century Italy to Las Vegas in 1960. It will be shown on Feb. 16, 2013, and be conducted by Michele Mariotti. It stars Diana Damrau, Oksana Volkova, Piotr Beczala, ¿eljko Lu¿i¿ and Štefan Kocán.

Riccardo Zandonai's "Francesca da Rimini," a drama about a noblewoman duped into marriage, conducted by Marco Armiliato and produced by Piero Faggioni, will be presented on March 16, 2013, at noon. It stars Eva-Maria Westbroek, Marcello Giordani, Robert Brubaker and Mark Delavan.

The season ends on April 27, at noon with George Frideric Handel's "Giulio Cesare." Harry Bicket conducts and David McVicar produces this story of Caesar and Cleopatra, which stars Natalie Dessay, Alice Coote, Patricia Bardon, David Daniels, Christophe Dumaux and Guido Loconsolo.